I would describe Timothy Green's life as more twee than odd. In another case of a couple plagued by childlessness (why is this a trend?), Cindy (Jennifer Garner) and Jim (Joel Edgerton) Green decide to act on their thwarted desire by writing down all the clichés of what the perfect kid might be, putting them in a wooden box, and burying it in the backyard. Rain falls and out pops a mud-caked little boy whom they name Timothy (CJ Adams) and who starts to fulfill all the qualities they put in the box, only tweaking them into clichés that are quirkier and more uplifting than the originals. It's kind of like a parental version of Ruby Sparks, but without agents or a publishing deal. And don't forget the kid's last name is "Green;" it means there's a subplot involving environmentalism. Not to mention the foliage that sprouts from Timothy's ankles, an ominous reminder of the tragic cycles of nature, and the formulaic resolutions of what passes for a modern-day fable.

Ben Affleck and Rebecca Hall on the Town Ben Affleck and Jeremy Renner, who play Doug and Jem, a pair of Charlestown gangsters in Affleck’s stunning adaptation of local author Chuck Hogan’s novel Prince of Thieves , make for an intense, photogenic screen couple. That is, until Rebecca Hall comes between them.

Not giving up on the climate-change bill This summer, US politicians gave up. Faced with backroom roadblocks and scattered priorities, Democratic leaders announced in July that they were abandoning attempts to pass a comprehensive energy and climate-change bill.

Why parenthood is a bad model for government Political theory has, for centuries, come down to an analogy of anatomy, or of family: the head of the government is the head of the body politic, or the head of the household.

Ferraro, a photo, and a legacy Geraldine Ferraro's photograph stands proudly in a silver frame, inscribed to my daughter with the words, "You are my hero."

Earth Day observances Last week, the Maine House voted to ban bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical found in some plastics — much to the regret of beard-wanting ladies all over Maine.

The Bard goes green Hark ye, eco-warriors, bearers of the canvas tote! Today's greenies could learn a thing or two from a country-bred Englishman who lived before automobiles and oil spills — William Shakespeare.